Carboy or Pail?

[Virgil G]

Which do you prefer? (assuming you are doing 5 gallon batches)

I've got a carboy and several buckets.

The Ale Pail's seem easier to use, but they aren't near as fun. You can't watch what's going on; the fermentation isn't quite as ...um.. explosive as a carboy. BUT, the pail is a hell of a lot easier to clean and easier to carry.

OTOH, the bucket can hold bacteria in a cut, which you won't have that problem in glass.

So what's the preference for small batch?

[Chipper Dave]

I'm right in the starting process of buying all new homebrewing equipment and I'm drawn towards a hybrid of sorts - those plastic Better Bottles. I believe I'm going to try brewing with these as a primary. I'll most likely get a glass carboy as a secondary. I've previously brewed batches in the plastic buckets. While the beers turned out fine, I missed seeing that was going on with the beer. While the Better Bottle can still get scratched, it's a lot less heavy than a glass carboy. That's a plus to me. Plus they've gotten a few nice recommendations from some other homebrewers. I'll still have a plastic bottling bucket. Eventually I'll go straight to a kegging system, but for now, that's still in the plans for the future.

[Deege]

I use the pail for all 5 gal fermentations. The ease of cleaning is a huge win for me.

I use a 25 gal food grade trash can for the 15 gallon batches. Never had a problem with either!

A cut or scratch in the plastic might hold bacteria, but if you use a one step sanitizer you can limit your liability. The other thing you can do is pitch the correct amount of yeast. Enough yeast will quickly make your beer inhospitable for any other bugs. That's really the best you can hope for.

[Doctors Orders Brewing]

Plastic buckets/pails.
Easier to store, easier to clean, cheaper, safer.
Plus glass carboys are quite expensive down here in Oz.
Finally it really erks me the "plastic scratches really easy and will harbour bacteria that will spoil your beer" style of statements.
The myth is that you touch the plastic with any cleaning implement and you have ruined it is utter BS.
Have a good sanitiser and cleaning regime and all is fine.

[theBryon]

I've switched from pal to glass carboy. It's fun to see the beer develop... They are heavy, but no big deal, I get a work out while making beer... Still use the plastic bottling bucket, and use the old fermenting bucket for a cleaning tub and beer making "tool box" or sorts.

[gisbrewmaster]

I am pretty new to brewing just bottled my 4th batch and I use a plastic bucket for primary and when i am not lazy i use the better bottles for secondary. My family and glass don't do real well together so I am probably going to stay away from the glass carboy for 5 gallon batches but i am going to get a few 1 or 2 gallon for making small batches of mead and cider to test out.